No criminal charges will be filed against an off-duty Tucson police officer who got into a physical confrontation with three women in the parking lot of a midtown restaurant last November.
The Pima County Attorneyβs Office announced its decision regarding Officer Robert Szelewski on Wednesday, six months after the incident at the Culinary Dropout, 2543 E. Grant Road.
βBased on discrepancies between what witnesses observed, as well as video evidence, there is not sufficient evidence to issue charges against Robert Szelewski,β PCAOβs Chief Criminal Deputy Dan South wrote in a letter to Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar.
On Nov. 14, 2021, Michelle Alosi, 62, and her two daughters Brittany Aloisi-Wiles, 39, and Nicole Whitted, 40, were walking from the restaurant to their car as the Szelewski family arrived in the parking lot in their truck. An argument ensued, resulting in a physical confrontation that led Szelewski to physically restrain two of the women, while the third videotaped the incident.
Brittany Aloisi-Wiles, who was seen being restrained by Szelewski by kneeling on her neck, was cited for a misdemeanor for disorderly conduct.
The investigation included a review of case materials consisting of 100 files with surveillance video, body-worn cameras, interviews with the women, Szekewski and his family and several witnesses, a written statement from one of the women involved and photos of the incident, the news release said.
The investigation concluded that one of the women approached Szelewski in βan aggressive manner,β leading him to restrain that woman and another who tried to intervene, the news release said.
βThe facts do not support a substantial likelihood of conviction at trial,β South wrote. βA jury could easily find that (the woman who first approached the off-duty officer) used a threat of force first by rushing towards Szelewski to start the fight.β
In response to the decision, Whitted said she was βreally disappointed in it.β
βHe instigated, he escalated, he attacked,β Whitted said.
Szelewski, who was hired in June 2004, served two suspensions β 40 and 10 hours β during his first three years on the job, the Arizona Daily Starβs Tim Steller previously reported.
The longest was for misusing his firearm. When a fellow officer shined a flashlight at him, Szelewski pointed his gun at the colleague and lit him up with the gunβs light, Steller reported. The other was for wrongly detaining a juvenile in a closed room.
Szelewski has also received complaints from people claiming he was rude and unnecessarily aggressive, Steller reported.
